a thread opens
And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.
The Vigil
Today’s scroll, one verse at a time — each linked to the last by the cross-references rather than by any model of you. The same vigil for everyone, and a different one tomorrow.
And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
from Genesis 43:25
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and indeed, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
from Genesis 43:11 · a strong link
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
from Genesis 37:25
a thread opens
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is it that the LORD spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 18:21 · a strong link
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
from Leviticus 19:12
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
from Deuteronomy 5:11
Lest I be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
from Exodus 20:7
a thread opens
Now to him that is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
from Revelation of John 14:5 · a strong link
Your people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, so that I may be glorified.
from Zephaniah 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.
from Isaiah 60:21
For, look, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
from II Peter 3:13 · a strong link
a thread opens
Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
Look, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
from II Peter 2:15
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Numbers 31:16 · a strong link
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
from Luke 19:38
This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
from Matthew 21:9 · a strong link
a thread opens
And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link
Look therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness: otherwise you also shall be cut off.
from Hebrews 3:6
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
from Romans 11:22
In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the world began;
from Hebrews 10:23
In which God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
from Titus 1:2
a thread opens
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
from Deuteronomy 33:9
You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:11
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
from Leviticus 19:28 · a strong link
You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
from I Kings 18:28 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 43:25 along this chain. Today’s own vigil is laid separately.
Each verse follows the one before it along the chain a study Bible draws — a century old, public, and compiled by people arguing about Scripture rather than about how long you stay. Every card says which verse it came from and opens the chapter it belongs to. Today’s vigil is the same for every reader and is worked out from the date alone, so there is no account, no counter, and nothing stored in your browser or ours.
The text is the Lantern Modern Standard. The links are openbible.info’s cross-reference set (CC BY), the same apparatus behind the reader’s Echoes drawer. Read a whole book · Today’s table